Burney's Bytes will focus primarily on the local preps sports scene, but will also touch on some college and pro athletics, mostly in regards to athletes who hail and have played high school sports in Oakland County. My goal for the blog is to be conversational and anecdotal, a more relaxed and free formal take on high school athletics than you see in regular game day coverage.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Quarterback Blitz

The start of the prep football season is merely days away at this point and this makes Burney VERY HAPPY!!! In honor of practice kicking off a week from this Monday, I've decided to break down a list of the best high school quarterbacks I've ever personally seen play.

Most are from the Detroit area, however some hail from Illinois and Indiana, since I spent over a decade of my life living out of state.

My TOP 15

1 Mill Coleman (FH Harrison) – As a little kid I would go to Harrison games just to watch "The Thrill" electrify the grandstand whenever he was on the field. The most exciting and productive player I have ever seen on the high school level. Thrill took Harrison to three straight state championship games and a pair of state crowns in his three years under center for legendary Hawk head coach John Herrington.

2 Donovan McNabb (Mt. Carmel) – I was friends with a kid in Chicago in my high school days and he took me to watch McNabb play as a senior at Mt. Carmel…all I can say about that experience is WOW!!!

3 Drew Henson (Brighton) – The ultimate prep golden boy who was perfect at everything he did…until he reached the pro level

4 Rex Grossman (Bloomington South) – I went to college at Indiana at the exact same time Grossman was romping his way through the schoolboy scene in the Hoosier state, taking no prisoners in the process……absolutely shredded opposing defenses with his pinpoint accuracy and gun-slinging style tossing the pigskin. Unfortunately, after continuing to tear it up in the college ranks at Florida, Rexie hit the skids in the NFL establishing himself as one of the worst starters in the league while becoming arguably the most dismal signal caller to ever lead his team to a Super Bowl

5 Drew Stanton (FH Harrison) – All you have to know about Stanton as a prepster is one word; REPEAT

6 Darnell Dickerson (Detroit King) – Dominated the PSL in the late 80s and I caught a game of his when I was 10 years old, witnessing the Randall Cunningham clone kill the comp with his arm and legs. He wound up doing the same in college under center with Pitt

7 Devin Gardner (Inkster) – The definition of dynamic when he was leading the Inkster Vikings offense under new Oak Park sideline general Greg Carter

8 Tom Zbikowski (Buffalo Grove) – This current NFL starting safety was a great prep quarterback as a high schooler in Illinois in the early 2000s. I saw him in a playoff game his senior year when he was facing off against my then-girlfriend's alma mater for a spot in the final four. Needless to say, he was FANTASTIC, tossing a game-winning TD while on the run from a nearing pass rush in double OT to propel his BG squad to the victory

9 (tie) Dane Fife (Clarkston) – Going on to become a standout college hoopster at Indiana, Dane Fife was a Grade-A chucker on the football field in high school, getting recruited as heavily for his talents on the gridiron as he did for his prowess on the hardwood

9 (tie) Dugan Fife (Clarkston) – Just like his little brother, Dugan was a college basketball player that excelled throwing the football in high school with the Wolfpack and could have easily taken his stellar arm to the next level if he so desired

10 Diallo Johnson (OL St. Mary's) – Simply a pleasure to watch leading the Eaglets to a state title as a senior in the mid-1990s……played a lot like Devin Gardner and just like Gardner suited up for the Maze and Blue in college, where he was a wide receiver on UofM's National Championship team in 1997.

11 Craig Krenzel (Utica Ford) – Prior to guiding Ohio State to a National Championship in the college ranks, Krenzel was a Macomb County phenom in high school

12 Jim Sorgi (Fraser) – Currently an NFL backup QB who won a Super Bowl with the Indy Colts, Sorgi went head-to-head with Krenzel for best signal caller in Macomb County bragging rights in the late 1990s

13 (tie) Matt Baker (Birmingham Brother Rice) – This future NFL'er was nothing but SUPER sparking the Warriors to a state title as a senior in the early 2000s

13 (tie) Doug Pickens (Birmingham Brother Rice) – This young man who would eventually be drafted into the Big Leagues in baseball, came from the Pickens family, so that's all you really need to know about his skill as a football player

14 Daunte Robinson (Pontiac Central) – This guy was Oakland County's own prep version of Michael Vick back in his day with the Chiefs in the 1990s….he could do it all and was revered in the Pontiac community so much that Wisner Stadium (Central's home field) began to be referred to as 'The House That Daunte Built'

15 Tommy Vento (FH Harrison) – Even though he only started for one season, his command in the huddle, composure in the pocket and big-time playmaking ability blew me away

Honorable Mention; Mitch Robinson (AH Avondale) – Still playing in high school, Robinson is THE STAT KING, having a put up a season for the record books last fall. This year as a senior, it should be more of the same. If this list came out next summer, he would probably be on it.

5. Mike Saba - Ford - Still in h.s. but he had 3k+ total yards last year, with a bad knee. this year his knee is good and the #'s will be even better.

I have not seen Mitch Robinson play yet so I can't put him on here yet. Also some good ones are: Keith Moore (Cass Tech), Brian Blackburn (Crockett), Connor Stallons (Dakota class of 2007), and thats all.

I only have 22 years of life under my belt and haven't followed the scene up until a few years ago.

About Me

Scott M. Burnstein grew up in Bloomfield Hills and attended school at Birmingham Roeper, where he earned multiple varsity letters in both basketball and baseball, and has been following the local preps scene since the 1980's. Mr. Burnstein attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he received a bachelors of arts degree in political science, and the John Marshall Law School, in Chicago, Illinois, where he got his Juris Doctrate. He has covered high school sports for both the Detroit Free Press and the Oakland Press, and is the author of the 2007 regional best-selling book, The Motor City Mafia - A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit, Family Affair - Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in The Chicago Mafia (2010), Mafia Prince - The Crazy Phil Leonetti Story (2012) and The Detroit True Crime Chronicles (2013).